Collection of definitive and commemorative coins of Republic India including Off Metal Strikes (OMS), Mules,Die varieties and Errors.

Dec 23, 2012

NUMISMATICS AND COINS: FOR BIGGINERS

WHAT IS A COIN?

Any piece of hard material (mostly a
metal/alloy) that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in
order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a medium of exchange or
legal tender.

WHAT IS NUMISMATICS?

Numismatics is both a hobby and field
f academics. As an academic field it deals with study of currency, including
coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While as a hobby it is the
collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related
objects.

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTS THAT FALL UNDER CATEGORY OF NUMISMATICS AS A HOBBY?

It includes the collection of it is the collection of currency,
including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects like other payment media used to resolve debts and
the exchange of goods.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT
PARTS OF COINS (ANATOMY OF THE COIN)?

In the below given image you can see the different parts/regions
of a typical Coin of Republic India. The details of each part are given below.

OBVERSE SIDE:In Republic India's coins the obverse side refers to the side on
which, Lion Capital along with the motto 'Satyamev Jayate' is struck.

REVERSE SIDE:It is the side on which the designs changes either based on
definitive series type or commemoration type. For example, in above shown coin
we can see the United Nations' logo; this side of the coin makes the reverse
side. Generally obverse side design remains unchanged except minor changes and
all the time it bears the lion capital and the motto 'Satyamev Jayate', whereas
reverse side designs are changed constantly fromone commemoration to other commemoration
issue.

LION CAPITAL:It is the Emblem of India and derived from the Ashoka Pillar, as a
symbol of sovereignty and indigenous motifs of independence.

DENOMINATION:It refers to the value of the coin mentioned on it either in terms
of rupee or in terms of Naya Paise/Paise/Pice.

YEAR:This refers to the year of commemoration in case of commemorative
coins and year of minting in case of definitive coins.LEGEND: Legend is the written alphabetic script on the coin which generally indicates the details of Commemoration or any other details related t coin but it will be in terms of alphabetic and numeric script.

FIELD:This is the any flat/Plain area of coin which is free from any
designs or which is not raised.

RELIEF: This is portion of the design that has been raised.

MINT MARK: It is generally given below the date, but in some cases at the top
of the vertical axis of the coin. It indicates the mint in which coin was
minted. In India there are four mints, namely; Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and
Noida Mint. Kolkata mint doesn't use any mint mark, whereas Mumbai mint have
diamond shaped (Rhombus), Hyderabad mint have Star shaped (or Dot in Diamond)
and Noida have Round Dot shaped mint mark. In addition to these, India also got
its coins minted through foreign mints during 1980s and 1990s. Mint mark 'B'
and 'M' were used by Mumbai mint on proof sets where as Mint mark 'U' was being
used on UNC sets issued by Mumbai Mint.

EDGE:The edge is the actual side of the coin, and shouldn't be confused
with the rim. Edge can be either Plain, Milled/Reeded or Security edge.